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For younger learners

  • Early Years Foundation Stage

Counting and Ordering KS1

This collection is one of our Primary Curriculum collections - tasks that are grouped by topic.

Counting Collections

Age 3 to 5

In this activity, children choose collections of items to count and are supported as they find ways to keep track of, and record, their counting.

Estimation Station

Age 3 to 5

This activity involves filling a jar with small objects to encourage estimation and counting skills.

Using Books: Maisy Goes Camping

Age 3 to 5

In this task, the book 'Maisy Goes Camping' by Lucy Cousins introduces children to the idea of using the size and number of objects to work out how many will fit in a 'tent'.

Tidying

Age 3 to 5

When tidying away toys in this activity, children will use their counting skills to check that all the toys are in the box.

The Voting Station

Age 3 to 5

This task encourages children to count and compare numbers when using 'voting bricks' to vote for a book at story time.

Number Rhymes

Age 3 to 5

In this activity, the rhyme 'Ten Green Bottles' is used to encourage children to count backwards to work out how many bottles are left.

Incey Wincey

Age 3 to 5

In this game, children roll the dice and count how many steps to move the spider up or down the drainpipe.

Beat the Clock

Age 3 to 5

Children use everyday language to talk about time, to compare quantities and to solve problems

Counting Collections in the Early Years

Age 3 to 5

In this article for practitioners, Cath Gripton and Deliah Pawluch explore the 'counting collections' approach, which encourages children to spend time playing and experimenting with counting.

Number Book

Age 3 to 5

Creating a 'Book of Four' provides an opportunity for children to collect groups of four objects and consider how the groups of objects are similar.

Writing Digits

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Lee was writing all the counting numbers from 1 to 20. She stopped for a rest after writing seventeen digits. What was the last number she wrote?

Robot Monsters

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Use these head, body and leg pieces to make Robot Monsters which are different heights.

Next Domino

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Which comes next in each pattern of dominoes?

Same Length Trains

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

How many trains can you make which are the same length as Matt's and Katie's, using rods that are identical?

Buzzy Bee

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Buzzy Bee was building a honeycomb. She decorated the honeycomb with a pattern using numbers. Can you discover Buzzy's pattern and fill in the empty cells for her?

100 Square Jigsaw

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Can you complete this jigsaw of the 100 square?

Shut the Box

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

An old game but lots of arithmetic!

Five Steps to 50

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Use five steps to count forwards or backwards in 1s or 10s to get to 50. What strategies did you use?

Biscuit Decorations

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Andrew decorated 20 biscuits to take to a party. He lined them up and put icing on every second biscuit and different decorations on other biscuits. How many biscuits weren't decorated?

All Change

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

There are three versions of this challenge. The idea is to change the colour of all the spots on the grid. Can you do it in fewer throws of the dice?

Domino Sequences

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow star

Find the next two dominoes in these sequences.

Missing Middles

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Can you work out the domino pieces which would go in the middle in each case to complete the pattern of these eight sets of three dominoes?

Making Sticks

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star

Kimie and Sebastian were making sticks from interlocking cubes and lining them up. Can they make their lines the same length? Can they make any other lines?

Grouping Goodies

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow starYellow star

Pat counts her sweets in different groups and both times she has some left over. How many sweets could she have had?

How Would We Count?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

An activity centred around observations of dots and how we visualise number arrangement patterns.

That Number Square

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

How quickly can you put back the numbers on the hundred square? What's the 'best' way to do it?

How Many?

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

Have a look at these photos of different fruit. How many do you see? How did you count?

Dotty Six

Age 5 to 11
Challenge Level Yellow star

Dotty Six is a simple dice game that you can adapt in many ways.

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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